BONFIRE Night could be a washout this year for many as the tail-end of Hurricane Oscar is expected to batter Britain with winds of up to 70mph and two inches of rain.

Parts of the north west are expected to be hit with up to 60mm of rain over the coming days from Friday with southern and central part of England also seeing 15mm as the rain moves southeastwards.

Brian Gaze, the chief forecaster for the Weather Outlook, told The Sun Online: "Winds strengthen in the north west of the UK through Friday night with gusts of 70mph a possibility in exposed locations.

"It remains windy on Saturday with gusts of up to 60mph looking likely in north western England.

"The windy conditions will be accompanied by heavy rain in the north west.

"Further south and east it won't be as windy but gusts of up to 40mph could be enough to cause some problems for fireworks display organisers.

"Despite the rain it will be quite mild, temperatures could reach 15C (59F) locally.

"On Sunday the rain risk spreads southeastwards and there could be some heavy bursts mixed in across England.

"Cooler and showery conditions follow into the west.

Hannah Findley, meteorologist for the Weather Company, told The Sun Online: "The remnants of ex-Tropical Storm Oscar will begin to arrive late on Friday, lifting winds to moderate to fresh in Ireland, then transiting between Scotland and Iceland on Saturday before moving off to the north-east on Sunday.

"Winds will be fresh to strong, gusty at times and approaching gale force along coastal areas.

"Occasional gusts over 50mph will affect the far north-west of Ireland and Scotland. Widespread rain is expected initially, turning showery later on, with some moderate to heavy falls, mainly in the west.

"In western Ireland and western Scotland, 12 hour rainfall totals will be 10-30mm.

"Temperatures will increase widely on Saturday, in a strong south-westerly airflow, with maximum temperatures around 3 or 4°C warmer than on Friday."

A Met Office spokeswoman said: "Definitely a colder night ahead today, it looks like some of the coldest spots could be in Northern Ireland, where temperatures could fall to -7C in the coldest spots.

"Across England especially inland in the rural spots it could fall to -2/3C."

The effects of Oscar will be felt in Britain by the end of the week - but the violent storm is proving dangerously difficult to predict for weather experts.

Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said: "Oscar's always been a tricky one and there's always been a lot of uncertainty regarding it.

"And at the moment, the most likely track will actually take us a little bit further North than we were thinking before."

At the minute, the National Hurricane Association, which has been tracking Oscar's path, thinks the hefty winds and rain could hit the UK late on Friday and early Saturday morning.

The majority of the winds are likely to hit in the north of Scotland - with possible highs of 80mph.

Katie Greening, meteorologist for the Weather Company, told The Sun Online: "Remnants of Oscar will arrive to the northwest of the UK Friday and pass in between Scotland and Iceland during the weekend.

"The southwest winds will begin to strengthen through Friday, reaching gale force inland over Ireland, Scotland and Wales during Saturday - gusts even higher with up to 80mph along the west coast of Scotland and Ireland and also along the Irish Sea coasts. Rain arriving over the north and west Friday, quickly followed by a second band of rain Saturday."

Friday is due to bring a bright start to the whole of the UK, although cold with temperatures ranging from 4-7C.

Through the morning, cloud with sweep across from the west and first showers will appear in the south of Northern Ireland from 3pm.

By 9pm on Friday Northern Ireland, Scotland and the north east of England will be engulfed by heavy rain and strong winds.
This stormy weather will worsen into the night and rain will spread to the south west of England by noon on Saturday.

Lighter but consistent rain will fall in the south west of England and Wales, while the East mostly stays dry.

London and the home counties are likely to see the last of the weekend's stormy rain falling on Sunday night.